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Monday, January 03, 2011

Phillies re-sign reliever Gordon to minor league deal

Now that I have your attention, this is Brian Gordon, the outfielder-turned-pitcher who appeared in 40 games for the IronPigs last season, not Tom, who saved 42 games for the Phillies between 2006-08. [Link]

Gordon, 32, raised his stock with in an impressive campaign out of the IronPigs bullpen, going 1-3 with a 3.46 ERA and a formidable 86/19 K/BB ratio in 78 innings. Lehigh Valley beat writer Jeff Schuler, the first to break the news of Gordon’s re-signing, says the right-hander will join Nate Bump, Dane Sardinha and Rich Thompson as committed Lehigh Valley returnees for 2011 (I’ve seen Thompson’s name surface in the winter league box scores, but I forget where). Meanwhile, veterans Melvin Dorta, Ozzie Chavez, Beerleaguer favorite Brian Mazone, Ty Taubenheim, Alex Concepcion and Ehren Wassermann will not return, according to Schuler. Beerleaguer: Look for Gordon to get a few looks in spring training. As for Tom Gordon, he reportedly attended the Winter Meetings in hopes of pitching again. The 43-year-old last appeared in three games for the Diamondbacks in 2009.

Bolsenbroek profiled: Dutch farmhand Mike Bolsenbroek was profiled today on the international baseball site Mister-Baseball.com. The 23-year-old, 6-8 right-hander went 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA and 23/18 K/BB ratio in 32 innings last season for the Lakewood Blue Claws, joining the team midseason from extended spring training. A native of Apeldorn, Netherlands, he also pitched for the German Bundesliga champion Buchbinder Legionaere Regenburg squad, where he posted a 2.13 ERA in the playoffs.

This is first winter that I've followed/posted on Beer Leaguer... the 3rd week of February 2011 never felt so far away.

Right now, I could care less about R2C2, just as long as they stay injury-free. I'm just dying to find out how Jimmy, Chase and Ryan show up -- lean and hungry (one can only hope in the case of Big Piece) or laid-back, flabby and complacent.

What the heck, here's hoping Chase shows up 15 lbs overweight. Who knows? If he shows up overweight but stays injury free, an overweight Chase at the outset of the season might help with his end-of-season weight loss, and help him finish the season strong.

This is about the previous thread but Aumont is one to watch in the minor league camp this year. Last spring training he was in the spotlight. In his very first appearance as a Phil in the major league camp he was ineffective even against Florida State and his season never got off the ground after that. He was coming off a poor performance out of the pen in the Arizona Fall League prior to the Lee trade. This ST he will start in the minor league camp under less pressure and coming off a strong performance for Canada against Cuba in the Pam Am qualifier tourney back in Oct. There he struck out the first four Cubans he faced in a start against the veteran Cuban team.

clout, thanks for trying to put Sackman's era chart for starters in context in the last thread.

jason.tp obviously never read the article or any of the additional research at THT or he would have understood that.

And for the record, I think it's up to Sackman to defend the chart and data. It's not my work so I don't feel a need to do so.

But FWIW, no study I have seen refutes the ERA ranges Sackman described, so I con only assume there is some validity to them.

If some of the posters here have a problem with the actual production out of the 3 - 5 starter slots, then I suggest they take it up with Bud Selig and MLB. If they contracted a fews team I'm sure it would improve.

Yeah, I think one of the big backstories we'll be following this year on this site is whether and how Rollins, Utley and Howard bounce back. Hopefully, some of the stat guys here may put forth some metrics that can factor in the injuries somehow, but I suspect that would be a pretty tough and subjective evaluation to make.

In any case, one prediction I can make with absolute confidence is that Chase Utley will not report to camp 15 pounds overweight. He does seem to wear down some over the course of the season, but the injuries that have caused him to lose significant time don't appear to be related to that.

My guess would be that he would say that being in top shape is what enables him to play the way he does, and has in fact kept him from being sidelined much due to injuries such as pulled muscles, strains, etc. I would also guess he evaluates his weaknesses pretty carefully and incorporates whatever steps he can take, training wise and on the field, to minimize them.